Payroll Taxes Are a Two-Sided Coin

When you budget for an employee, the sticker salary is only part of the cost. This payroll tax calculator separates the employee side (withheld from their check) from the employer side (paid out of your pocket on top of salary), so the true cost per hire is visible at a glance.

Reading the Breakdown

Social Security is capped at the $176,100 wage base, so high earners stop paying it mid-year. Medicare is uncapped, and employees above $200,000 pay a 0.9% surtax on the excess. FUTA applies only to the first $7,000 of wages at an effective 0.6%, and SUTA rates vary widely by state and experience rating.

The Real Cost of an Employee

Add the employer share to the salary to get the true fully-loaded cost, then compare it against the employee's take-home to see how much of the gross pay is absorbed by these taxes before anyone sees a dollar.